Human Sexuality
Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) had banned same sex marriage through its definition as a union between a man and a woman. The supreme court ruled against this definition of marriage claiming that it was unconstitutional. Majority of states by this time banned same sex marriage. However, the ruling of Supreme Court against DOMA resulted to a various lawsuits seeking legal recognition of same sex marriages. One of the law suits is the Obergefell v. Hodges. This case is the epitome of such lawsuits as it marked the legalization of same sex marriages in the US. The plaintiffs of the case were John Arthur James and James Obergefell who were challenging the Ohio state law banning same-sex marriage. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and legalized same sex marriages. Legalization of same sex marriage implied various changes at an individual, in institutions, society and federal policies. This paper seeks to explore some of the implication of legalizing same sex marriage.
Prior to the ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges, LGBT people were often discriminated and denied some rights that other marriage partners enjoyed. For instance, the decision could encourage LGBT individuals to adopt children. Moreover, the decision could influence people to redefine parentage from the usual fatherhood and motherhood to a more generic term of parentage (Koch, 2015). The ruling of the case led to an increase in the perception of their equality (Kreitzer, Long & Chatfield, 2015). It is indisputable that several same-sex marriage partners had previously suffered from being denied their rights due to their social status. Therefore, the ruling influenced LGBT people to fight for more equality and seek legislation of laws that will protect them as a minority group. Consequently, LGBT will enjoy more rights.
According to Powers (2015), hospitals and schools in states opposed to same-sex marriages only recognized one of the partners as the legal parents of children. Subsequent to the ruling of the Obergefell v. Hodges, schools and hospitals had to respect the decision of the court. Therefore, they had to allow recognition of both partners of same-sex marriage as the legal parents of children in that family. The ruling also pressurized the church to redefine their definition of a marriage institution. This influence was high as the ruling could result in a division of the church as some oppose while others acknowledge same-sex marriage (Samar, 2015).
The ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges had various effects on the society and the federal government at large. The ruling implied a subsequent change in other policies. For instance, Farrell and Sanderson (2015) explain that the ruling would influence a change in estate planning, insurance equality and medical issues such as being recognized as next of kins. For instance, the federal and state laws on tax had to be restated to reflect children’s tax treatment (Kellog, 2015). Moreover, the ruling may influence same-sex couples to seek for refund by the state and federal government for the taxes on real estate that they had been paying previously.
The ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges resulted in various arguments about its implications for the marriage institution and other related social aspects. The aftermath of the court’s ruling would result in changes at individual, societal and national level. The analysis of this paper reveals that the ruling would imply a rise of a new social group. This group would impose changes and influence at an individual level and societal level as seen in various institutional changes that will result such as in churches, hospitals, and schools. Moreover, the ruling implies the need for changes in various laws that had adverse implications for same-sex marriages.
References
Farrell, J. & Sanderson, D. (2015). The legal implications of obergefell v. Hodges. McCandlish Lillard. Retrived from http://mccandlishlawyers.com/resource/legal-implications-obergefell-v-hodges/
Kellog E. M. (2015, July 7). Tax Issues Following the Supreme Court Decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Fraser Trebilcock Davis & Dunlap, P.C. Retrieved from http://www.fraserlawfirm.com/blog/2015/07/tax-issues-following-the-supreme-court-decision-in-obergefell-v-hodges/
Koch B. B. (2015, July 17). The Effect of Obergefell v. Hodges for Same-Sex Couples. The National Law Review. Retrieved from http://www.natlawreview.com/article/effect-obergefell-v-hodges-same-sex-couples
Kreitzer, R., Long, D., & Chatfield, S. (2015). Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex marriage across the US: USAPP experts react. USApp–American Politics and Policy Blog.
Powers, C. E. (2015) Obergefell v. Hodges. Virginia State Bar, vol 64, 18-21.
Samar, V. J. (2015). Toward a New Separation of Church and State: Implications for Analogies to Last Year’s Supreme Court Decision in Hobby Lobby by this Year’s Decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.
